Meet the 2025 Advisory Group for CDR in the Climate Transformation Fund

Meet the 2025 Advisory Group for CDR in the Climate Transformation Fund

After receiving over 400 applications from carbon dioxide removal (CDR) projects for our 2025 Climate Transformation Fund cycle, we’re excited to share that a shortlist has been selected for further evaluation by the advisory group.

At Milkywire, we know that driving meaningful climate impact means being rigorous in how we allocate funding. That’s why we apply a high bar for scrutiny and evidence in selecting projects.

During the selection process, we work with an advisory group to help us choose the most impactful and sustainable climate projects. Final decisions on chosen projects are made by Milkywire but the ambition is to follow the advisory group’s guidance as far as possible. The advisory group is independent of Milkywire and the members do not necessarily endorse all of the projects that are chosen for the Climate Transformation Fund.

As shortlisted projects move forward, we’re also excited to welcome several new advisors to our CDR group, bringing leading expertise to support our work in carbon removal. 

Our advisory group for carbon removal projects

Ugbaad Kosar (new member)  Director of Environmental Justice, Carbon180 Ugbaad leads Carbon180’s environmental justice work, ensuring equity and justice are central to carbon removal initiatives. With a background in forest sciences and renewable resource management, she bridges the gap between research, advocacy, and community-centered policy.

Andrew D. Jacobson, Ph.D. (new member) Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Northwestern University A geochemist with a focus on weathering processes, Andrew brings critical expertise on the long-term carbon cycle, paleoclimate, and the viability of enhanced weathering and ocean alkalinity strategies in CDR.

Fabiano Ximenes, Ph.D.  (new member) Senior Research Scientist, NSW Department of Primary Industries Fabiano is a leading scientist in biomass storage with over 15 years of experience working with biomass, and carbon accounting in forestry and agriculture. He’s led major research initiatives and contributed to IPCC guidance on harvested wood products.

Carlos Härtel, Ph.D.  (new member) Senior Industry and Investment Advisor; Former CTO at Climeworks With a background in aerospace engineering and industrial R&D, Carlos brings strategic insight into the development and deployment of Direct Air Capture technologies at scale.

Richard Marinos, Ph.D. (new member) ERW Scientist, Casacade Climate Richard is a terrestrial biogeochemist who has studied how roots, minerals, and microbes drive the production and stabilization of soil carbon, and how enhanced rock weathering impacts carbon and nitrogen cycling in the soils and headwater streams of temperate forests.

Lucia Simonelli, Ph.D. Director of Programs, Carbon Removal Standards Initiative (CRSI) Lucia is advancing fit-for-purpose frameworks for high-integrity carbon removal through her work at CRSI. With a background in mathematics, climate policy, and decarbonization strategies, she brings critical expertise in setting quality benchmarks for durable carbon removal.

Cyril Brunner, Ph.D. Lecturer and Researcher in Climate Science, ETH Zürich Cyril leads scientific research on net-zero pathways at ETH Zürich, with a focus on land-based carbon removal methods like enhanced weathering, DAC, BiCRS, and biochar. He is the scientific lead of the SPEED2ZERO project, which supports climate transformation in Switzerland, and is active in science communication and policy engagement.

Marian Krüger Managing Director, remove Accelerator Marian leads the remove Accelerator, supporting early-stage carbon removal startups across Europe, India and Africa. With a background in entrepreneurship, impact investment, and sustainability innovation, he plays a vital role in scaling emerging CDR technologies.

Danny Cullenward, Ph.D. Climate policy expert and economist Danny is a widely respected expert in climate law, carbon markets, and public policy. He served as a member of California’s Independent Emissions Market Advisory Committee and is a co-author of Making Climate Policy Work. He brings a sharp policy and governance lens to CDR.

Cara Maesano, Ph.D. Manager & Geochemical Lead, RMI’s CDR Initiative Cara is a scientist working on the front lines of evaluating and scaling high-quality CDR. At RMI, she leads work on technical due diligence, geochemical modeling, and carbon removal project evaluation, especially in mineralization and enhanced weathering.

Kathleen Draper Biochar expert; former Chair, International Biochar Initiative Kathleen is a leading voice in the biochar world. With years of experience scaling biochar solutions and advocating for their role in carbon removal and soil health, she combines technical depth with on-the-ground implementation knowledge.

Alexander Farsan Climate and sustainability lead at Klarna; former SBTi lead at WWF Alexander has worked at the intersection of corporate climate strategy and global standard-setting. He was a key figure in developing the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) and now drives Klarna’s climate and sustainability work.

Micaela Taborga, Ph.D. Independent expert in Direct Air Capture Micaela specializes in Direct Air Capture (DAC) systems, with hands-on experience in engineering, operations, and innovation across CDR startups and research institutions. She contributes a technical and systems-oriented view to evaluating DAC approaches. She was previously working with DAC at Repsol and is now a principal at Marble. 

Grant Faber Independent expert in techno-economic analysis and DAC Grant brings deep analytical expertise in modeling, life cycle assessment, and techno-economic evaluation of carbon removal technologies. His work supports more transparent, cost-effective, and scalable solutions in the CDR space. He previously served as the DAC Hubs Program Manager at the U.S. Department of Energy and is now the Head of Carbon Compliance at Offstream.

We’re beyond grateful for our advisors who make our selection process possible and ensure our funding drives lasting, science-based climate impact.

Read more about our strategy for being a catalytic buyer of carbon removal here.